HADDONFIELD, N.J. - The Atlantic East Conference is celebrating “Officials’ Appreciation Week” along with all other Division III and Division II conferences throughout the 2024-2025 academic year. This year marks the third year of this initiative adopted by the Division III Commissioners Association (DIIICA) to recognize and thank conference officials across all sports.

Officials’ Appreciation Week will be celebrated during the fall, winter and spring sport seasons. To kick off the year, the fall celebration will take place from October 7th – October 13th followed by January 27th – February 2nd for winter and April 7th – April 13th for spring. 

The commitment of the Atlantic East Conference officials and referees to safe, fair and competitive contests is a critical part of the student-athlete experience.

“Officials are a crucial piece of what we do,” said Atlantic East Commissioner Rebecca Mullen.  “We appreciate the difficulty of their job and the vital role they play in providing fair and safe competition for our student-athletes. We encourage those with a passion for their sport to help the continued effort to grow sports officials and the appreciation of difficult role.”

Officials’ Appreciation Week is one of numerous initiatives that are being implemented as part of the Division III Commissioners Association (DIIICA) Strategic Plan for Collegiate Officiating that was created as a result of the DIIICA’s Strategic Analysis of the State of Collegiate Officiating. In conjunction with the NCAA and the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO), there is an urgent need for sports officials, if interested please visit the NCAA’s Say Yes to Officiating platform to learn more.